


Disconnected

by Talinor



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, M/M, honestly even i don't know why i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 18:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6205342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talinor/pseuds/Talinor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over the year or so the officer knew the two, he’d grown to care for the teen as if she were his own flesh and blood. He never imagined he’d end up caring so much when Jack called him up to be Angel’s Earth instructor, but Rhys didn’t want Angel to fight before she was ready. He knew both he and Jack would willingly give up their own abilities if it meant her safety.</p><p>Which is what got him into this situation.<br/>-<br/>AKA Avatar AU where Angel's the Avatar, but it's set roughly in Legend of Korra season 1</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disconnected

**Author's Note:**

> another old fic that i wanted to upload because i'm wea k for rhys being angel's adoptive dad and avatar aus so i combined 'em. Enjoy!

When he’d heard stories of a fanatic yelling in the park about some ‘revolution for equality’ from Vaughn, he didn’t think much about it. Rhys just did his job and let the notion of a masked man able to take bending away slip away from his mind and ebb off into the void. They were just rumors- whispers of freedom from oppression that didn’t exist.

Maybe it was because he was afraid of the very idea- having his bending, the foundation of his very being, the root that kept him (for lack of a better word) grounded. He used bending in his job every day, using the wires as if they were extensions of his soul.

What would it mean for him if he lost it? He’d be a husk, an empty shell missing the connection to the earth that he’d felt his entire life. He may have forgotten about Amon, but the idea that he could destroy the young man always nagged at the edges of his mind. It haunted him every waking moment- and every sleeping one.

Yet knowing the father of the young Avatar certainly helped a bit. Jack was a firebender, with a personality to match. Stubborn, abrasive, loud, and pretty damn snarky- the two sometimes butted heads over issues. He knew that his first intentions were for Angel’s sake, but keeping her in Republic City with Equalist raids every day now? Even an idiot could see that was a terrible idea. Angel mastered air and water, but despite the two’s everyday teachings earth and fire hadn’t sunk in for her yet.

Over the year or so the officer knew the two, he’d grown to care for the teen as if she were his own flesh and blood. He never imagined he’d end up caring so much when Jack called him up to be Angel’s Earth instructor, but Rhys didn’t want Angel to fight before she was ready. He knew both he and Jack would willingly give up their own abilities if it meant her safety.

Which is what got him into this situation.

It had started as a regular humdrum afternoon. Angel had come home from school (and managed not to air-blast some asshole kid, always a bonus) and he’d gotten home from breaking up an Equalist rally. Amon hadn’t been there _(thank god)_ but it was still a victory, albeit a small one.

He’d felt her hand tap at his metal armor. “Hey Rhys,” Angel moved to the cushioned stool next to his, blue eyes shining with her natural curiosity. “Do ya’ think in a little bit you could show me some more earthbending training techniques? I think I’m starting to understand it better.”

Rhys nodded with a smile. “Of course,” He said. “I wouldn’t be a good teacher if I didn’t teach you, now would I?”

“You wouldn’t be a teacher at all, Rhysie!” He could hear Jack call from his room down the hall. The room seemed to get a little bit hotter at the pet name. Sure, it was in the firebender’s nature to give people nicknames instead of bothering to remember their actual names. It had been annoying at first, but he had to admit- it’d grown on him. It was just another quirk about Jack.

“So,” Angel said quietly, a knowing (and kinda mischievous, much like her father) look on her face. “When are you gonna tell him?”

Rhys’ first instinct was to laugh nervously- act like he didn’t know exactly what she was talking about. “What do you mean?”

The raven-haired teen only grinned. “Y’know,” She poked him in the side, barely noticeable against the metal. “Your little crush on my dad. When are you gonna talk to him about it?”

There it was- the big question. A question he asked himself often, but never thought he’d hear it voiced, hear it out in the open air.

The good news about what happened next was that he didn’t have to answer it. The bad news was the reason _why._

The sound of wood cracking alerted the three in the apartment, Rhys’ instincts switching him to autopilot before his brain processed what was going on. He grabbed Angel lightly, taking her with him to meet Jack in the hallway. The older man already had a ball of flame ready in his hand- ready to blast at whoever was stupid enough to try and break in.

That fire dissipated as Rhys handed Angel over to her father. “Go,” He instructed. “Get out of here.”

“Kiddo, if you think I’m gonna leave you behind, you’re _dead_ wrong.” There was a metaphorical fire in his eyes, and in another situation that would’ve only heated his cooling cheeks. But his own desires weren’t important right now- Angel’s safety was. There was no doubt in his mind that the ones at the door were Equalists, and they were there for her.

He couldn’t bear the thought of them having the Avatar in their grasp. He’d die before he let that happen. Or the closest equivalent, in this case.

“I can handle it,” He lied with a serious expression. “But it won’t be safe here- go to Vaughn’s. I know he’ll let you in.”

Jack shook his head. “No fuckin way, kiddo. Either-”

“ _Don’t argue with me._ Not now.” His tone was like a dormant knife- cool and unwavering with a sharp-steel edge. It was the same tone he used in command. But this was different; there was more at stake than most of his missions.

This time it was Angel who spoke up. “W-what about you?”

He held a wavering smile. “I’ll be okay, I promise.” Judging from the splitting sound of the wooden door finally giving way, they would be coming up to where they were soon. “I can buy you two enough time to get out unnoticed. Be careful, okay?”

He knew Jack didn’t like the plan, that he wanted to protest, but he also knew there wasn’t time. He reluctantly nodded, grip light on Angel’s forearm as he pulled her to the alley window. Rhys didn’t see it, but he knew that Angel had boosted the both of them a little to lighten the fall. Like she’d practiced.

He didn’t have much time to feel proud, to note the feeling in his chest that a parent might experience.

The chi blockers came in first, bringing out their stun batons. In most earthbending situations, he stayed to the traditional rooted stance. It made him feel supported, rooted to the ground. That would only get him shocked from the get-go. Instead he used his metalbending stance- light on his feet until the time to strike. One swiped at his left, he quickly dodged to the right.

The fight seemed like it was taking forever, but he guessed that was a good thing considering he was basically the distraction. He’d managed to knock one of the chi blockers out of the room, yet reinforcements had arrived by that time. Like some kind of hydra, three more took their place. 

He switched entirely to defense, jumping and dodging the four electric batons narrowly. He couldn’t keep this up forever, he knew that. The effort was starting to strain him, to wear him down. But at least it bought Angel and Jack time to escape.

That ended up being his last fully-conscious thought as he felt a pain that made every hair on his skin stand on edge and darkened his vision. The last thing he felt before his consciousness ebbed away was the sensation of the soft rug on his cheek as his lanky legs failed him.

He awoke to the sensation of someone dropping him on his weak feet and forcing his sore legs to go up three stairs. He tried his best to discreetly stomp his foot on the ground, letting the seismic sense and small waves and vibrations in the earth tell him about his environment. He was on a wooden stage with only the person holding him up behind him and three others ahead. 

It felt like his heart was lodged in his throat, inching higher and higher with every step he was forced to take. If he could, he would’ve run away, bend a little to get away from the figure he knew he was headed towards. But his legs were shaky and his hands were cuffed by a metal so pure he couldn’t bend it. Great.

The Equalist behind him stopped them both and kicked Rhys’ kneecap, forcing him on his knees. After some fumbling, the blindfold was removed to reveal-  
The very man that had haunted his recent nightmares, the masked man staring at him with a pale uncaring and unforgiving look. “So,” Amon spoke, his rough voice grating on his nerves like sandpaper. _“You’re_ the Avatar’s earthbending teacher?”

He bit his tongue, starting at the man with defiance. He wouldn’t answer this lunatic. 

Amon kneeled on one knee to be eye-to-eye with him. He could see the whites of the man’s eyes, darkened by the shade of the mask and hood. Somehow his look didn’t waver. “I’ll make you a deal. You tell me where the Avatar is,” The masked man moved one hand to the back of his neck as if he were the mother to a disobedient kitten. “And I’ll let you keep your bending. What do you say?”

Rhys spat in his face.

Amon shook his head, standing up and wiping the saliva off his kabuki mask. “I gave you a chance. But you’re doing her no favors right now- we will find her eventually. With or without your trivial assistance.” The grip on his neck moved to his hair, yanking on it to force Rhys to look up. He moved around the younger man, preparing the routine he’d practiced so many times it was natural. Despite his cool exterior, Rhys’ heart was beating rapidly. His instincts screamed at him to run, to try and defend himself somehow. His blood was thrumming vibrantly with the need to do something- anything to prevent his nightmares becoming reality.

It felt as if time slowed as he watched the hand grow closer and closer to his forehead. Finally Amon’s thumb planted itself between Rhys’ brows, and the younger couldn’t help but gasp.

It felt as if his essence was being extracted from him, like the masked man was removing his very _soul._ The connection he’d felt with the earth was severed like it was a flimsy rope torn by a sharpened sword. It left him feeling empty, void of what made Rhys… himself.

All his life, his mother and father praised his bending. His nonbender father would watch him training with his mother with a proud glimmer in his auburn eyes. As a teenager in Republic City’s own metalbending school, his teacher praised his adaptivity. She was a strict woman, but he could see the same pride in her eyes when he did something tricky. 

Bending was his life, his career, his _everything._ What was he without it?

He didn’t notice the rough sensation of the wooden stage against his skin- didn’t notice the Equalists left him on the ground like a thrown away or broken ragdoll.

All he felt was the emptiness.

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr: squishy--squish


End file.
